Depths of understanding
by KittyVigilante
Summary: Bumble Bee is facing some issues but may not have to deal with it alone.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I don't own "Teen Titan" or any other well know thing that may be mentioned in my fic. _just so you know…_

Depths of Understanding

"Aaahh… my favorite pupil…" A low gravelly voice says with the cruelest of cues.

A ghostly white hand trails a, relatively thin, thumb over a smooth mocha jaw line and down the young woman's neck. As she tries to back away, the hand quickly wraps bony claws around the back of her neck in vice-like grip. Unable to move, the girl's lips tremble as she whispers "N-no"; as the significantly older man forcefully trusts her into a violent kiss.

"Nooo!!!" Bumble Bee shoots up in bed and shouts hoarsely. Her breathing is erratic, eyes are wide, and her face is drenched with sweat and tears. She clutches her sheets and closes her eye until the panic subsides. Every once and a while she'll let a few breathy sobs escape before her breathing gets to a normal pace.

She's done this before, off and on for about six months now. _"why are you still here… you're dead! I'm done with you!" _she thought referring to the dream, or rather the man in it. But she'd sit like that for an hour at least. Even though it had been month since she took command of Titans East, she still secretly fears that her time here with the Titans was all a dream. That it was an implanted memory, or something her mind made up to deal with the realization that; for the last year and a half she had been unknowingly, and repeatedly raped by megalomaniac. A man who would just as soon shoot every student he had in the face, as he would bat an eye. If it meant getting closer to glory. She runs a hand over her face, remembering of the day Blood's mental hold started to slip.

_**flashback:**_ _The seniors were doing some field training and had been told to include tear gas during the battle. They had actually made the substance earlier that day in the chem-lab, from scratch. Then they made little bombs for the field exercise (capture the flag); which bumble happened to be ambushed with. The gas whofted around her stinging her eyes and throat, making her sick to her stomach. She was pissed she got caught off guard so easily, and determined not to fall. So she gritted her forcing way the pain and in turn gaining a new level of mental resolve. She pushed herself through the gas, several students, and five more yards goal. She was the __**BEST**__, there was no question! After her victory and a bout of coughing & puking, she was sent to the infirmary. In those bouts her head spun and memories of past exercises seemed to falter. Those being replaced by flashes of Brother Blood doing… the unthinkable. And as soon as she heard his voice from the intercom/phone on the wall, an uncanny sense of fear shot through her. That brought about with it a short involuntary sob. She regains a little composure, hoping the nurse didn't hear it or would it off as a reaction to the tear gas. The head master had requested to see her, for a "bi-weekly evaluation". Afterward she shook what event he had planted from her mind. She quickly made her way to her dorm room, dropped to the floor and sobbed until her eyes felt like they were going to bleed. _

_**end flash**_

No one knew about what happened at the academy, and she wasn't planning on telling anyone anytime soon. She couldn't bare the thought of her team taking pity on her. She didn't want them to think she was weak.

She couldn't take it anymore, and if she wants to stop the on slat of horrible "what-ifs" from bubbling up; like they always do. She'd have to do something quickly the last thing she needs is another panic attack. Plus the nausea and feeling that Blood could turn the corner at any moment, had just started to subside. _I gotta get outta here… _she breathes to herself. Letting a final, long , decisive huff escape and wills herself out of bed. In doing so she casts the white cotton sheet and, light blue and yellow tie-dye blanket, to the foot of the bed.

She unconsciously brushes stray ringlet behind her ear as she makes her way across the room. Noticing herself in the mirrored door of her armoire she chuckles a bit at her reflection with mild unease. Her hair was in two slightly frayed French-braids on the back of her head. Then ending with two tuffs of tiny ringlets stopping just above the base of her neck. That wasn't what had bothered her. It was how overtly busty, and well endowed in the butt department she looks in her bed clothes. "What possessed her to buy everyone jammies? What possessed me to keep them?" She shakes her head as she remembers Starfire joyfully presenting her new friends with "warming-of-the-home" gifts. Star did that shortly after the repairs were done on the tower, after beating Blood. While all the boys had received flannel boxers, she was given a low cut, baby yellow camisole and a pair of Jersey pajama shorts. The top has spaghetti straps and was an empress cut. So it's comfortably snug up top but plumed out to her hip. It made her look like Lindsey Lohan in a baby doll style dress before she got sickly thin. But that doesn't bug her as much as the shorts do. Though the light grey shorts were comfy and unrestricting, they took the concept of "short" shorts to heart. In fact, she was sure there was probably only an inch and a half of fabric between the hem and the crease of her cheeks. Which is made more apparent when one isn't exactly suffering from the Lack-a-ass syndrome.

Bumble Bee stretches and yawns a bit, continuing towards the door.

She slips out of her room. Check both sides of the hall for anyone that might still be up, she highly doubts anyone but her could be up at this hour. Considering the twelve hour they put in with CSI and then the district SWAT team, she was petty confident she wouldn't run into someone tonight. Even so, she opts for the heightened stealth of flight just in case. No way was she going to let anyone catch her in this outfit and with reddened, tear-drained eyes. She flies to the roof and to the shoreline, where she lets a passing breeze rolling off the bay wash over her.

Sitting on a large rock, Bee lets her mind wonder aimlessly. As she watches the tide a fleeting thought whispers _" You could end this pain… you could walk right in there and the thought of him won't ever hurt you again."_ It's almost immediately dismissed with a scoff. "I wouldn't give that sick bastard the satisfaction!" she says to herself with great distain.

"Can't sleep?" Bee damn near jumps out of her skin at the sound of Aqualad's voice. "What are you doing here?!" she snaps. She hadn't meant it to come out like that but he caught her off guard. "Sorry, you scared me." Aqualad smiles slightly

"I'm to stressed to sleep so I swam a bit, but I could ask you the same" She clears her throat and starts to hastily head back to the tower. She can't seem to muster up a witty line to cover her fragility and she sure as hell isn't going to tell him the truth. "Bee! Wait!" For some reason she stops, which surprises them both. Aqualad catches up to her and looks visibly concerned. "What's wrong?" he's now a bit puzzle by the fact that she won't look at him.

"I'm fine…" she says in a low whisper like voice. He smirks with a huff disbelief. "Obviously not, and that attempt to flee doesn't help your argument." He walks around, in order to face her but she turns away.

"I said I'm fine." she retorts with feigned exasperation. The proximity in which they were standing seriously starts to mess with what little composure she can maintain. She can't look him in the to reassure him, and if she stay or he comes any closer she's sure she'll break. Just as she's about to leave again the Atlantian calls after her with notable frustration.

"Bullshit, now tell me the truth!" The young woman whirls around in response to his challenge and glares at him.

"Drop it." she commands. Aqualad straightens his posture in defiance.

"No, as your second in command, I'm obligated to try to resolve any issues that might effect the team." Bumble Bee shifts her weight and folds her arms, now quite annoyed by the past exchanges. "This doesn't effect the team, and it doesn't matter."

"Yes it does, on both accounts." he snaps back at her. "If it didn't, you wouldn't seclude yourself from us with the exception of missions. Nor would you be so quick to snap at any and every little thing. You haven't been alright since the drug bust last week, admit it! I mean, I'm sorry some got a few cheap shots in on you. No one can dodge every bow or catch every crook, but don't take it out on us."

"You know what, FUCK YOU!!" By now her mask had shattered. Her voice wavers as she speaks, her eyes were welling with tears. "I'm SORRY if I'm a little on edge around you and I'm SORRY if I'm not as perky as your use to. But YOU weren't in that ally. YOU didn't see the look in his eyes! That sick fucker I almost killed was going to rape me! He was going to rape me like…" She catch herself just before the words can leave her lips.

Aqualad stand in shock as he watch his, normally fearless, leader's face twist in teary pain; as she trembles an withers to the ground. He kneels beside her and tries to give a comforting hand but she abruptly shrinks away. "Don't touch me. Don't…" She's interrupts her by gathering her in his arms. At that point she can't help but unravel completely. Wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his collar, she unabashedly balls her eyes out. The young atlantian is at loss for words. He can seem to do nothing but hold his distraught friend close to him as she purges her psyche, against his damp shirt. ~_Oh God I wish I had known… How long has she kept this secret? Who did this to her…? What do I do now?~_ all those thoughts and hundreds more rush through his mind. He begins to rock her unconsciously. Only just realizes it after he feels her frame heave less and her sobbing fade to the occasional whimper.

As the young woman's sporadic breaths return to a rhythmic pace, Aqualad finds that Bumble Bee has cried herself to the point of exhaustion. Bumble Bee moans inquisitively. Though she's half asleep, she notices him shifting their position and carrying her off. She gives off a few apprehensive huff but is quieted as he cradles her closer.

"It's ok Karen, I've got you." he says as the head back to the tower. It feels strange to speak her real name. Though he has known it for a little while now, he has never actually said it out loud. But part of him has always wanted to, as if having her hear it could make her relax a bit. Freeing her from the demanding role of " Leader" or even "Bumble Bee" for just a moment. And until recently, he was afraid she was turning into Robin. _~ Lord knows we only need one.~_

Now that they've reached the tower he rearranges his, now completely comatose, leader's body so that he can open the door. He take the elevator to the floor where their rooms are. As quietly as he can he ventures out of the elevator and down the hall, all while praying he doesn't drop her. Though he's physically twice as strong as most humans, fatigue is setting in and Bee was getting heavy. But he didn't want to slow down and possibly bump into someone. That would only lead to an awkward and carefully worded explanation. One he isn't really prepared to give. He enters a room with very basic furnishings. There's a desk and a chair against the wall to the left, a wooden dresser and a bed against the back wall. Aqualad carefully lowers the girl onto the bed. He bushes a few stray curls back toward her hairline. Gazing at Bee's now peaceful face and he is unable to resist the urge to kiss her. He leaves a light lingering peck on her forehead. "I'm so sorry…" he breathes as his lip hover over her skin. His heart aches for her in her anguish. Yet wells up with something else as he stares at her while she sleeps. He starts to back away and hesitates, the words on his lips can't go unsaid any longer. "I love you" and with he strokes her face again; slumping to the floor beside the bed. He succumbs to a much needed rest as the first rays of dawn bleed over the horizon.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **_I don't own Teen Titans…. So review, don't sue._

**Chapter 2**

Light pours from the window and over Bee's sleeping frame. She stirs; the removal of a cloud allows more light to hit her face. She groans and rolls toward the less sunny side of the bed, only to find one of her comrades resting soundly against the bed. She's taken a back but still mindful that the young man could awaken at any time. ~_Oohkaay… how did I get here? Scratch that. How do I get out of this room without waking him.~_ she ponders. She gives a light and weary sigh before focusing on Aqualad's face. The longer she looked at him the more she became convinced that he was probably to far gone to notice anything. So she pull herself away from the bed with the beating of her wings. But soon realizes that part of her baby-yellow camisole is caught under Aqualad's forearm and the head that rests on it.

_~ I hope to God you really are asleep Al, or so help me…~ _she thinks to herself. Not wanting to wake him and knowing the clothes won't go with her, Bumble Bee decides to shrink and escape through the vents to her room. Since she knew the layout of every inch of the building, she easily finds her room. She immerges from the slits of the vent cover over her bed. Then lets herself plummet to the bed in hopes that the impact could knock this feeling from her. It was a sick rancid mix of bewilderment, shame, and regret.

It radiated from a pit in her gut and crept stingingly throughout every limb; and to the back of her mind. She couldn't begin to tell what she regretted most at this very moment. Though, almost baring her deepest wound to a completely unprepared teammate is definitely in her top five. Still in her miniature form, she twists and churns trying to bury herself in her tie-dye comforter. As she considers resigning herself to an afternoon of steeping in depression; she hears frantic knocking on her door.

"**Senorita Bee!! Senorita Bee!!" **two hyperactive boys ramble off in unison. She acknowledges them with a begrudging moan.

"**Senorita Bee… are you sick…?"** Menos asks with concern.In all honesty she really didn't mind the youngsters or the way they act half of the time. She understands that they are only eight years old. So being rambunctious and needy, at times, is to be expected. It's just that Bee doesn't feel like playing "Mommy" at this very moment.

"Nooo…" a muffled response is heard through the door. The boys' faces lighten knowing she is well.

"**I'm hungry!! Can we have waffles?!" **Mas blurts obviously over his concern.

"Just give me a sec." she moans after returning to her original size. She then reluctantly rolls over, face planting into the pillow. The comforter is thrust off with huff. Her arm flops back down like a limb of a doll. Wings shoot straight up so to vertically peel her still limp body from the bed. She allows her body to dangle as she half-heartedly heads toward the shower.

"**Senori…." **the boys call out as if to see if Bee had heard them, but are interrupted by Bee's distant but clear remark.

"**If the table isn't cleared and set by the time I get down there, you're getting "healthy" waffles." **she yells from the bathroom in Spanish to emphasize that she is serious; also to ease Menos' mind. She knows he has become more attached, to her being the younger and more sensitive of the two.

The boys stiffen at the thought of "healthy waffles" and rush down stairs to the dinning area. They nearly mow down Speedy on the way, making his boxers rustle in the gust of their exit.

"Hey guys, they're not down there so don't worry about being late for training!" he hollers, referring to the lack of Bee and Aqualad's presence. Speedy follows, casually running his fingers through his fiery hair as he plods down the stairs. He starts to round the corner toward the gym, assuming they had gone there. However, stops when he hears the unmistakable ruckus the twins moving about the kitchen. "Hey, chill I said th…why are you setting the table…?" the archer inquires. Part of him secretly afraid of them trying to cook, like that _one_ time…* inward shudder*.

"**Senorita Bee is making us breakfast."** Menos stops to answer as his brother lays the silverware out like rapid fire. Speedy nods in acknowledgment.

"I guess that's her way of apologizing for being such a bi-um…cranky." He dare not curse in front of them or Aqualad would have his ass. Mas slows to a screeching halt now that the table is done and addresses his older teammate.

"**But we had to get the table ready before she cooked or she'd make us "healthy waffles" instead."** Mas pseudo-pouts.Speedy face slowly warps with disgust, clearly apposed to the idea.

"What the!! That wheat-soy-kelp crap! THAT'S JUST WRONG!! I don't care how much fruit and honey you put on it, that ain't gonna work!" he rants while gathering the equipment to make the batter. He then places a skillet on the stove before he collects the ingredients. "'Healthy waffles…'you know I should call social services on her. That is torture, feeding you that is as bad as putting you in stocks."

"It's far better than the preprocessed stuff you all-to-often call breakfast. I'm just trying to keep their immune system from givin' out before they're thirty." Bumble Bee states. Now in her usual attire, she makes her way to him and confiscates the fork he was going to use to retrieve the waffles.

"Hey, I'm in the process of feeding the little guys and you're gonna start snatching things out my hand? Good gracious, is there ever time where you don't have to be in control?!" Speedy exclaims, clearly put of the actions of the domineering young woman. On any other day they could easily bicker off and on for hours. They'd trade almost harsh yet playful barbs, but not today. Today his last statement stung. Do to the invents of the previous night she decides to keep their feigned quarrel short. She allows a yielding sigh to escape her lungs.

"Just get me the eggs and milk so I can make this batter!….please." Speedy cocks one brow, surprised that she hadn't fired off something better than that. But he shrugs it off and gets her what she needs. As she lays the last waffle on the stack and brings them to the table, Speedy follows with the breakfast meats. Everyone is about to settle in for the meal, when Aqualad makes a slightly groggy entrance.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N:**_**I don't own **_**Teen Titans**_** or any other well-known thing mentioned in this fic.**

**Chapter 3**

A chorus of greetings sound as Speedy and the twins welcome Aqualad to the table. Bee feels a wave of anxiety rush over her as he takes his seat. She stiffens as she mentally banishes the feeling, before passing a platter of bacon. She quickly pops a fork full of food in her mouth and nods her greeting. After all of that dies down, there's a short period of silence. To everyone else, it seemed to be a warm, well-deserved moment of peace. One that is greatly complimented by the sweet and savory addition of breakfast with friends. But for her all silent moments are excruciatingly too long, especially among a group. Silence and sleep allow her mind to venture to places she'd rather not dwell.

"So… I guess that stakeout wiped us _all_ out," Speedy proclaims breaking the staling silence. "Seeing how I wasn't brow-beaten out of bed at O' dark thirty in the morning." He punctuates his joke by taking a heavy bite of his waffle. Then he points his fork at Bee and then Aqualad. Everyone has a bit of a chuckle except for the twins, who were too engrossed in their delicious meal to catch the joke. Speedy was obviously grateful for the break in routine. No one hated getting up at some ungodly hour (which for him is before 11am) to train more than him. He takes a gulp from his glass and continues, as the all but forgotten twins clamor on amongst themselves. "Aside from nearly being run over, I could get used to this." He drawls with a complacent slouch.

"Tsk…you can be so…. _incredibly _lazy sometimes." Aqualad scoffs. He hesitates a bit in reverence to a rule he himself put in place. The last thing they needed was the two youngest members spouting curses. He shakes his head in mild disapproval, knowing that on some level the twins might pick up his laziness, if left unchecked. Although, only Menos seemed to be paying attention, and that was only for a second. It's just long enough to apologize for almost running Speedy over and to ask for more food. Speedy accepts the little one's apology, but can't help but dispute Aqualad's claims.

As those two bicker on as if they themselves were sibling, Bee slips almost unnoticed from the table. She doesn't seem to catch the still concerned glances her raven-haired teammate has been sending her way. She is lost in the thoughts that churn in her mind. He saw the way she flinched when he entered the room, the way seem to avoid eye contact with everyone. It made him want to tell her she was safe and that they were there for her. It made him want to hold her again, and if he knew he could get away with it he would. "I'll let you keep thinking that." he drones in response to Speedy's declaration of Aqualad lameness, and that he has no capability to relax.

Needless to say, they both agree to disagree as they begin cleaning the table. The plates were stacked on the platters, and on top of them were the cups filled with silverware. Normally Speedy would have to juggle this mess but Aqualad decides to make him tend to the twins instead. He carefully carries the semi-stable stack to the counter next to the sink.

Bumble Bee stands at the sink, absent-mindedly washing her dishes. She hadn't notice him walk up but she can feel him looking at her. Though it was nowhere near the way Brother Blood used to, it still makes her feel less than comfortable.

"Bee…" she hears her name slip from his lips. It's almost a whisper and heavy with concern. Aqualad hesitates to continue, unsure of what to say or how to say it. He didn't want to incur her wrath or make her feel cornered. Although, unbeknownst to him, she had felt that was the minute he walked in. Her breath hitches. She clears her throat and washes a little faster, pretending that he hadn't said a word. Aqualad frowns a bit. He hated being blatantly ignored. It felt like being abandoned or shunned all over again. The memories of it hurt him a little less now, because it had been years since his people had treated him like an outcast.

The young Atlantian mentally steadies himself, intent on breaking the silence. He had to at least know by whom or when she was attacked. He opens his mouth to bring forth one of hundreds of questions begging to answered. However, all that escapes is "wh…", before both of their attentions are ripped away from the situation by the blaring alarm.

Bee couldn't be more elated to be call to duty in her life. Part of her leaps for joy knowing that, for at least an hour, Aqualad would have to drop the P. I. bit short for a while, well concerning her that is. Her second-in-command, on the other hand, is not nearly as pleased. He's pretty sure she will use this opportunity stuff everything that had been worked up, back into the psychological cubby from whence it came. Which will probably manifest itself into another week of being pissy? Alternatively, she could throw herself, and possibly the team, into unnecessarily rigorous training sessions and taxing missions. Granted, the missions she would try to do on her own.

He knew that game all to well. It's the same one he played before he was accepted be his people- back when his violet eyes meant a life of solitude and shame. The only difference was that he was alone, not leading a team. When you're alone you can't hurt others as much when you're trying to seal the pain away. She may not know it but she was hurting them little by little. This mighty band of orphans and the comradery they have is the closest, any of them, have to family. He didn't want to jeopardize that.

Shortly after arriving at the scene they apprehend some very sloppy bank robbers. By the time the police got there the Titians needed to hand over the culprits and head home to do the paperwork. As they leave, Bee is compelled to turn around. She sees nothing out of the ordinary but still feels as if she's being watched. For the most part, she shakes it off joining the others to go home. The return home was brief, so too the amount of time it took for something else to pop up. This time some idiot, hopped up on the latest hallucinogen, decides to lead cops on a chase. Then he does donuts on a bridge; Speedy shoots the tires and then shoot the car with a sticky trick-arrow to stop it. When the man proceeds to run naked and screaming from the vehicle, Speedy uses a net arrow on him. Bee is a bit shocked but has the where-with-all to cover Mas and Menos' eyes. The ambulances comes none-to-soon for all those injured on the bridge and the guy. Afterwards the team is at the tower just long enough to have a befuddled laugh before moving on to the next fiasco.


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: **__**I don't, and never have, owned **_**Teen Titans.**

**Chapter 4**

By the time they get home from city-saving they're wiped out. So much so, that Mas and Menos have to be carried to their rooms. Their shoes were removed for them and they only stirred a little when tucked into bed. After leaving "Mommy" and "Daddy" to tend to the twins, Speedy trudges his way to his room. He plops himself on the bed, not bothering to change out of his suit. He lay awkwardly on the bed with one leg completely off the edge. He was definitely going to regret sleeping that way in the morning. Aqualad retreats to the purified and chlorine-free water of the indoor pool. Sleep takes him as soon as he begins to sink beneath the surface. His almost lifeless body drops 16ft. into darkness like a stone, and stays there until morning.

Bee can't help but lovingly smile at Menos' innocent, unconscious face. He had worked hard that day, as had they all. He and his brother had fallen asleep on the way back to the tower. And though he was heavy, she proceeded to scoop him up from the back of their T-car and carry him to bed. He tightened his arms around her neck and drowsily mumble "Mama" as she lowered him to the bed. This makes heart both sing and sink a little. She felt loved and needed. She thought somewhat sick to want to be that close to someone else's child. Or to, technically, be seen as a surrogate for the one they had lost but it still warmed her heart. That very fact seemed to feed into the groups' secret consensus that they were all "damaged goods". She strokes the little red-head's forehead and leaves for her room. ~_ Mama…~_ the thought lingers in her mind; partly because she want so desperately to call on her own mother. To have her back, even just a moment, so she could pour her heart out to her like she use to. She wishes she could crawl on to her lap like she did when she was five. Wishing she could bury her face in her mother's chest and wail. Most of all, she wished to hear her say "Trouble won't last always" that was her way of saying it was going to be ok.

_**Falicity A. Beecher**_

_**loving mother and brilliant mind**_

_**July 8 1970 - April 25 2007**_

She still remembers her the day she found out she was adopted. She was heart broken to find that she was the product of an illegal, underground experiment. Also hurt by the fact that her birth mother was far from what you could call a "decent person". But, the woman she had and always would call her mother, made her feel loved.

" I doesn't matter what that file says." Her mother told a both infuriated and bewildered 12 year old, "You are and always will be my daughter, God sent you to me!" After that it was never spoken of again because in their hearts they both knew it was the truth.

Once inside her room, in the presents of her bed, Bee feels the full weight of the pour over her. She undresses and reaches under her pillow for her jamies only to find them missing. ~_ huh…. Where did…~ _Her brow furls in mild confusion for a moment. Then she expels an exasperated sigh as she remembers where she left them and why. ~_ It is way to late and I am far to tired to start that fight!~_ she tells herself as she slips into bed, deciding to sleep in the nude despite her usual aversion to it. Sleep takes her almost as soon as the warmth of her blanket settles on her skin.

Bee stirs; the sound of birds chirping and the feel of a, rather large, tabby kneading her back. She blinks and as her vision clears she realizes this isn't the room she fell asleep in. She also noted there was a familiar humming coming from a distance, one that makes her heart leap and tears swell. She knew the tune anywhere! Bounding from the king-size four post bed, she sprints toward the source of the melody. Clad in just an oversized T-shirt, she rounds the corner to find a beautiful older woman with medium brown skin, long dark curls, and honey eyes. "Mama!!!" Bee almost screams while colliding with her in an exuberant hug.

"My baby girl, my Karen…" the woman coos while smoothing the Bee's own loose ringlets from her forehead to plant a loving peck where they had once lain. Pulling away just enough to cup her daughter's face, she stares into her weary eyes. "Karen… Karen, honey, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." she then brought the girl's head back to her bosom. The younger of the two begins to tremble and gasp as her mother tighten her embrace. Bee didn't care if it was just a dream, this was a welcomed experience. A dream, but a thousand times better than any other point in her life before this. In that moment Karen sheds the pride and pretence of everything she is in the real life, and let herself be cradled. Though she had started to cry, she finds her tears halted. A strange calm wash over her while in her mom's arms. It's sort of a dream state within a dream, and whole-heartedly basks in it.

Somehow (via dream logic) she finds her and her mother on the comfiest couch amidst bamboo stocks and the warmest sunlight. Karen lays her head on her mom's lap while her mom stocks and plays with her hair. As she feels herself drift to sleep she hears " I love you." spoken above her. It echoes threw the air and as it does, it sounds less like her mother but still very familiar. And every bit as sincere.


End file.
